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Portrayal of women in Nollywood films:” wicked, manipulative, loose in morals, diabolic and inferior to the men"

Portrayal of women in Nollywood films:” wicked, manipulative, loose in morals, diabolic and inferior to the men"

According to Nigeriafilms, there is a noticeable trend in Nollywood films: The women in the films come across as wicked, manipulative, loose in morals, diabolic and inferior to the men. It is a familiar pattern: the women are hardly ever their own person; they are there to serve the men and their lives revolve round their marriage and children. If they head corporations, they either inherit it or stole it from someone. Generally, the roles of women in films are hardly ever psychologically empowering.

However, things might change thanks to the African Women in Film Forum, convened by Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi and organised by Director of Studies, Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts, Joke Jacobs. At a pre-June forum event in Lagos, film makers talked of the portrayal of women in films. Jacobs talked about a film that she saw some years ago in which women were badly portrayed: “The script was written by a woman who said she did so because that was what people wanted and besides, the reflection of women was true to their real life character.”

Adeleye-Fayemi; Jacobs; and filmmakers, Emem Isong and Tunde Kelani, addressed journalists at the event.Jacobs says she encourages a more balanced portrayal of women in movies since the Nollywood medium is a very powerful one that is capable of influencing thoughts.Kelani says he goes through the trouble of giving women fair representation in his films.

Also at the event was popular Nollywood actress, Bimbo Akintola. Akintola said that “The biggest problem is that we women look at ourselves the way men see us. At the end of the day, actresses just want to make money. We don’t really think of the power we have as actresses and what we are portraying. Maybe the forum will help us address that.”

The ADWF group said that from their experience of working on women‘s rights issues on the African continent, it is becoming clear that there is a need to start thinking of new ways of changing behaviours and attitudes that undermine women‘s rights, and which inhibit women from achieving their full potential.“It is recognised that one of the critical sites of oppression and violence against women in Africa is that of popular culture, expressed through popular music and film,” AWDF said.
The forum comes up in June and it is titled, Nollywood: Women and the Dynamics of representation. Various issues will be discussed, among which are Telling Women’s Stories: Complexity or Simplicity?, Saints, Whores, Nags and Witches, Talent, Opportunity and Versatility and Looking Forward.